DOCSLIB.ORG

The Ethical Status of the Bull in Corrida1

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Ethical Status of the Bull in Corrida1 The Philosophical Journal of Conflict and Violence Vol. II, Issue 2/2018 © The Authors 2018 Available online at http://trivent-publishing.eu/ The Ethical Status of the Bull in Corrida1 Francis Wolff Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris Abstract: This paper aims to offer an ethical defence of the modern practice of corrida. First, the study introduces a criticism of contemporary “animal liberation” ethics. Secondly, it draws a new set of principles and guidelines regarding our moral behaviour towards animals. Eventually, the study demonstrates that the ethics of corrida are based on the respect for the bull’s nature which is defined by the concept of “bravura”. Keywords: Aristotle; Epicurus; Lucretius; Peter Singer; Bullfighting; Bravura; Ethics; Violencee. The PJCV Journal is published by Trivent Publishing. 1 This paper has been initially published in French in the journal Cahiers Philosophiques. For the original French version of the paper, see Francis Wolff, “Le Statut éthique de l’animal dans la corrida, ” Cahiers Philosophiques 101 (2005), http://www.educ-revues.fr/CPHILO/AffichageDocument.aspx?iddoc=34106 [Accessed December 1, 2018]. This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0) license, which permits others to copy or share the article, provided original work is properly cited and that this is not done for commercial purposes. Users may not remix, transform, or build upon the material and may not distribute the modified material (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) The Ethical Status of the Bull in Corrida1 Francis Wolff Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris Abstract: This paper aims to offer an ethical defence of the modern practice of corrida. First, the study introduces a criticism of contemporary “animal liberation” ethics. Secondly, it draws a new set of principles and guidelines regarding our moral behaviour towards animals. Eventually, the study demonstrates that the ethics of corrida are based on the respect for the bull’s nature which is defined by the concept of “bravura”. Keywords: Aristotle; Epicurus; Lucretius; Peter Singer; Bullfighting; Bravura; Ethics; Violence. Introduction Our attitude towards animals is the subject of an ethical concern which is not the concern of animal rights, but which must adapt to the extreme variety of forms of life, the diversity of relationships between men and animal species, and the unique nature of each species. In the corrida, the fighting bull, far from being reduced to a mere “thing”, is endowed with an ethical status that fulfils the general principles just mentioned. Those ethics, far from only being valid for bullfighting, generally apply to the relation of men to all other species, and they may even prove to be the bearer of values which, although they do not belong to the morals of subjective rights, might still have a meaning for us. Throughout history, corrida has come under criticism. For centuries, the main issue was to know whether it was proper for a gentleman or a Christian to risk his life in this way or to attend such a spectacle2; the fight against an animal degrades man. In recent years, this criticism has been reversed; animals are degraded by the fights organized by men. Bullfighting is now condemned in the name of respect for animals, and not for men3. This 1 This paper has been initially published in French in the journal Cahiers Philosophiques. For the original French version of the paper, see Francis Wolff, “Le Statut éthique de l’animal dans la corrida, ” Cahiers Philosophiques 101 (2005), http://www.educ-revues.fr/CPHILO/AffichageDocument.aspx?iddoc=34106 [Accessed December 1, 2018]. 2 See Araceli Guillaume-Alonso, “Contre la corrida. Essai de typologie des positions anti-taurines (XVIe-XVIIe siècles), ” in Des taureaux et des hommes. Tauromachie et société dans le monde ibérique et ibérico- américain, ed. Anne Moliné-Bertrand, Jean-Paul Duviols, Araceli Guillaume-Alonso (Paris : Presses Universitaires de la Sorbonne, 1999). 3 See my paper “Qui est le taureau ? Les représentations de l'animal dans les discours et les pratiques tauromachiques contemporaines,” in Des taureaux et des hommes. Tauromachie et société dans le monde ibérique et ibérico-américain. In this paper, I showed that one must distinguish between several kinds of criticisms made in the name of different kinds of values which are contradictory if we do not consider them separately. I distinguished between four kinds of ethics with respect to the criticism of corrida: (1) the ethics of the respect of life (P. Taylor & H. Rolston); (2) the ethics of compassion towards sentient animals – whose prototype has been developed by the Australian and utilitarian philosopher Peter Francis Wolff can be called an “animalist”4 attack. I aim to show that, far from being the expression of an anthropocentric arrogance towards the animal kingdom or of a cruel indifference to the suffering of animals, corrida involves a coherent ethic which is respectful towards bulls. If corrida were ever to be banned where it can take place today, it would not only entail a great cultural or aesthetic loss, but a moral loss. And this moral loss would be twofold. With the disappearance of corrida, an essential dimension of “being-human” [être-homme] but especially an essential dimension of “being-animal” [être-animal] would both die out. Contrary to what many believe those who ignore everything about corrida or those who lack vocabulary, the bull in the bullfight is endowed with a unique personality and is far from being a mere thing5. The prohibition of corrida would not only immediately condemn extinction of the animal species involved in the physical contest, but it would also deprive humans of an irreplaceable relationship with animals, a relation that they cultivated, in all civilizations, with wild bulls. My statements can only appear as an intellectual paradox to those who have only a very vague idea of bullfighting, or to those who imagine that it is nothing more than a barbaric spectacle where men enjoy torturing animals before putting them to death. Worse still, my statements may appear as a moral scandal. I hope at least that the remainder of this paper will convince readers that bullfighting is not some “immoralism” or even an “amoralism” towards animals. Rather, corrida is the pillar of a reasonable ethics towards animals and even of a possible ethics for humans. For the fighting bull does have an ethical value—which is not without consequences on what animals are Singer in his best-seller Animal Liberation (New York: Harper Collins, 2009) ; (3) environmental ethics; (4) contractual ethics. I aimed to put against each kind of criticism the proper ethics of bullfighting. Some of my remarks at the end of the present paper will develop on several points of this previous study. 4 By “animalism”, I mean any kind of defense of animals based on the generic concept of animal. “Animalism" covers both the vague idea that "animals must be defended" and the more specific ideas stated in the various declarations of "animal rights". (A first formulation of this Universal Declaration dates from 1978. A revised text by the International League for Animal Rights was drafted in 1989). The origins of the novelty and growing strength of the animalist movement are twofold. On the one hand, modernity has undoubtedly led to an aggravation of the "ill-treatment" towards certain species (experiments on animals, industrial battery farming, etc.), although it has improved the condition of other species. On the other hand, under the influence of Anglo-Saxon moral and legal theories and under the growing realm of the notion of "subjective rights", the moral issue is now, in its large parts, monopolized by the ethico-legal concept of "rights" and directed towards a new object, namely the animal (endowed with sensitivity to pleasure and, especially, to pain) to which the concepts and foundations of morality are supposed to apply. Just as, in general, the undifferentiated sphere of "law and morality" (a vague domain sometimes referred to as "ethics") always deals with victims whose natural rights are violated, so contemporary animalism deals with animal victims whose rights must be defended (the accepted principle being that there are human rights and that these subjective rights are the main foundation of ethics). I will address other aspects of contemporary animalism in the main body of this article. 5 In his excellent book Le Philosophe et ses Animaux (Nîmes : ed. Jacqueline Chambon, 1998), Jean-Yves Goffi observes that, generally speaking, the attribution of an ethical value shows that the being in question is not regarded as a thing (112). The idea that bullfighting regards the animal as a mere thing is not only mentioned by animalists or by deep-ecology partisans, but also by some of their opponents. For instance, Luc Ferry, Le Nouvel Ordre Ecologique (Paris : Grasset, 1992). In “L’Esprit de la Corrida”, La Règle du jeu 6 (1972) Alain Renaut defends a Kantian understanding of the animal which he opposes to Descartes’ conception of the animal-machine. “Reducing the animal to a mere thing (putting it to death) cannot be the subject of a game. This reduction can, at most, be a necessity, but never some kind of entertainment for the one who remains attentive to the diverse aspects of reality.” (123). The bottom line of the argument is the Kantian thesis that “animals are an anologon of mankind”. Animals must therefore, according to Renaut, be
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Vegan Parents and Children: Zero Parental Compromise
    Ethics and Education ISSN: (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ceae20 Vegan parents and children: zero parental compromise Carlo Alvaro To cite this article: Carlo Alvaro (2020): Vegan parents and children: zero parental compromise, Ethics and Education, DOI: 10.1080/17449642.2020.1822610 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/17449642.2020.1822610 Published online: 20 Sep 2020. Submit your article to this journal View related articles View Crossmark data Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=ceae20 ETHICS AND EDUCATION https://doi.org/10.1080/17449642.2020.1822610 ARTICLE Vegan parents and children: zero parental compromise Carlo Alvaro New York City College of Technology, Social Sciences Department, Brooklyn, NY ABSTRACT KEYWORD Marcus William Hunt argues that when co-parents disagree Veganism; Children; Parental over whether to raise their child (or children) as a vegan, they Compromise; Religion; should reach a compromise as a gift given by one parent to Rights the other out of respect for his or her authority. Josh Millburn contends that Hunt’s proposal of parental compromise over veganism is unacceptable on the ground that it overlooks respect for animal rights, which bars compromising. However, he contemplates the possibility of parental com­ promise over ‘unusual eating,’ of animal-based foods obtained without the violation of animal rights. I argue for zero parental compromise, rejecting a rights-oriented approach, and propose a policy that an ethical vegan parent and a non-vegan co-parent should follow to determine how to raise their children.
    [Show full text]
  • Colombia a Country Situation Report About the Researcher 1
    Farm Animal Welfare in Colombia A country situation report About the researcher 1 Hector Anibal Delgado Rodriguez Veterinary Zootechnician Surgeon graduated from Universidad de Caldas (1992), with a specialisation in University Teaching from Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia (2004) and a Master’s in Business Administration (Universidad Santo Tomas, 1999). University Professor of Agricultural and Livestock Enterprises, Dean, Faculty of Veterinary and Zootechnics (2001, 2002), Academic Coordinator at the same faculty until 2005. Currently working at the WSPA as Veterinarian in charge of Projects for the Colombia Office. Acknowledgements Harry Jones Jones, Luis Fernando Galvis, Nelson Otero Medina and Nelson Gregorio Avila, final-year students at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Zootechnics at Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia in Bucaramanga, played an active part in gathering data, visiting farms and carrying out photographic procedures. Our sincere appreciation to them for their contribution: they were the heart and soul of this project. We must also thank Luis Carlos Sarmiento, the WSPA’s General Manager for Colombia, whose permanent support and investigative mind made this project possible. Thanks also to Dr Michael Appleby, Amy Firth and Hélène O’Donnell. Farm Animal Welfare in Colombia A country situation report Table of contents 2 Chapter Page Chapter Page List of acronyms 3 4.4 The Colombian layer industry 19 Abstract 4 4.4.1 Egg production and consumption 19 Introduction 6 4.4.2 Housing 19 1 Colombia: General features 7
    [Show full text]
  • Page 1 the RECENT DEVELOPMENT of PORUGUESE
    THE RECENT DEVELOPMENT OF PORUGUESE LAW IN THE FIELD OF ANIMAL RIGHTS FERNANDO ARAÚJO1 2 I. THE PRESENT LEGAL OUTLOOK To put it mildly, Portugal is not at the forefront of the international struggle for the implementation of animal rights, and only timidly has the Portuguese legislation on animal welfare shown some progress in that direction in the last few years. Portuguese associations for animal welfare are too small, too financially strapped and too dispersed and uncoordinated to perform a sustained role in championing the cause. Their cultural and social visibility is minuscule – and surely disproportionate to the political, legal and judicial victories that, in spite of everything, the generosity and courage of a few activists3 have obtained on an individual basis. Worst of all, some traditions of violence on animals have a long history in Portugal, e.g. bullfights, and seem especially well suited to resist legal changes and to erect political barriers in the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, there are reasons for hope that this bleak outlook will improve. The rural- urban migration over the last century has resulted in the predominance of an urban culture that is becoming more and more sensitive to issues of animal welfare (a sensitivity not immune to the “herding effects” of trends and fads, e.g. the ban on furs in the fashion industry). The growing power of the media, with its consistent denunciations of the more shocking episodes of abuse of non-human animals, both domestically and internationally, has conferred visibility to these issues and put the pressure on politicians to terminate at least the more extreme forms of exploitation and violence.
    [Show full text]
  • The Politics of Bulls and Bullfights in Contemporary Spain
    SOCIAL THOUGHT & COMMENTARY Torophies and Torphobes: The Politics of Bulls and Bullfights in Contemporary Spain Stanley Brandes University of California, Berkeley Abstract Although the bullfight as a public spectacle extends throughout southwestern Europe and much of Latin America, it attains greatest political, cultural, and symbolic salience in Spain. Yet within Spain today, the bullfight has come under serious attack, from at least three sources: (1) Catalan nationalists, (2) Spaniards who identify with the new Europe, and (3) increasingly vocal animal rights advocates. This article explores the current debate—cultural, political, and ethical—on bulls and bullfighting within the Spanish state, and explores the sources of recent controversy on this issue. [Keywords: Spain, bullfighting, Catalonia, animal rights, public spectacle, nationalism, European Union] 779 Torophies and Torphobes: The Politics of Bulls and Bullfights in Contemporary Spain s is well known, the bullfight as a public spectacle extends through- A out southwestern Europe (e.g., Campbell 1932, Colomb and Thorel 2005, Saumade 1994), particularly southern France, Portugal, and Spain. It is in Spain alone, however, that this custom has attained notable polit- ical, cultural, and symbolic salience. For many Spaniards, the bull is a quasi-sacred creature (Pérez Álvarez 2004), the bullfight a display of exceptional artistry. Tourists consider bullfights virtually synonymous with Spain and flock to these events as a source of exotic entertainment. My impression, in fact, is that bullfighting is even more closely associated with Spanish national identity than baseball is to that of the United States. Garry Marvin puts the matter well when he writes that the cultur- al significance of the bullfight is “suggested by its general popular image as something quintessentially Spanish, by the considerable attention paid to it within Spain, and because of its status as an elaborate and spectacu- lar ritual drama which is staged as an essential part of many important celebrations” (Marvin 1988:xv).
    [Show full text]
  • 20 May 2015 Thierry Meeùs Owner Mini-Europe Via E-Mail
    20 May 2015 Thierry Meeùs Owner Mini-Europe Via e-mail: [email protected] Dear Mr Meeùs, I am writing on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) UK and AnimaNaturalis, a Spanish animal rights organisation – along with our hundreds of thousands of supporters throughout Europe – to urge you to update the depiction of Spain in the Mini-Europe park from a bullring to something more representative of modern Spanish culture such as Seville's Plaza de España. Bullfighting is animal abuse, plain and simple. In the ring, the bull has swords plunged into his neck, back and body again and again until blood pours from his wounds and mouth. He is terrified and in excruciating pain. He doesn't want to die, but he can't run away, and soon he won't even be able to stand up. After falling to the floor from exhaustion and massive blood loss, he can only watch as a knife rips into his spinal cord to kill him. This is the experience of bulls killed in Spanish bullfights. Opposition to bullfighting in Spain is already vast and mounting. According to a recent survey, 76 per cent of Spaniards show no interest in bullfights, up from 56 per cent in the '80s, and 76 per cent oppose the use of public funds to support the industry. The entire region of Catalonia is just one of the many locales in Spain that have banned bullfighting for good. The loss-incurring bloodsport of bullfighting could not continue without public subsidies paid by taxpayers.
    [Show full text]
  • Assessment of Animal Equality 2015
    Additional information - for Animal Charity Evaluators - Assessment of Animal Equality 2015 Due date: October 7th 2015 1 1. What are your goals? Your vision? Your mission? (Update after strategic lines 2015) Vision Animal Equality works to create a world without animal suffering. Mission Animal Equality is a voice for farmed animals all over the world inspiring society and companies to adopt compassionate choices. 2. What are our objectives of the year? Goals in 3 or 5 years? Strategy Plan 2016 ­ 2020: Animal Equality has just finished its strategic plan for 2016­2020 and is working with an external company to have it summarized and transformed into a more visual document. As part of the strategic plan the organization has done a thorough internal and external analysis. Internal analysis: compilation of the financial, relations, material goods, management, function, procedures, dynamics of the organization in 8 countries. It has given insight to some of the internal problems that must be addressed as part of the strategy plan. As part of the external analysis we have analysed the education, legislation and companies in the 8 countries we are working in. This adds on to our STEP and SWOT analysis carried out sometime ago,as well as to the meat study being carried out in Germany to give AE an idea of what will be the areas of focus of the organization in the next years taking into account the organization's reality and resources. The organization’s country and international directors then had a 3 day meeting to discuss the organization's reality, identity and focus in the upcoming years.
    [Show full text]
  • Tickle That Sweet Tooth Amazing Vegan Churros Recipe VEGAN MAGAZINE
    Issue 05 ONEVEGAN BITE MAGAZINE !No como carne¡ Vegan Your handy Spanish passport for eating vegan Tapas! Vegan in Barca Meet the Founder of Barcelona’s only vegan tapas restaurant History of spaiN’s cruelest sport Bullfighting is alive and well in Spain tickle that sweet tooth Amazing vegan churros recipe VEGAN MAGAZINE Contact us Call: 857-209-8525 Email: [email protected] Website: www.OneBiteVegan.com ©One Bite Vegan Magazine 2018 A Brief History of Spain’s Cruelest Sport A BRIEF HISTORy OF SPAIN’S CRuElEST SPORT By: Ellen Forster or generations, thousands of tourists today originated in the Middle Ages, wherein the have flocked Spain to see the country’s Greeks and Romans would organise combats famous bullfighting events, along with on the back of bulls. Eventually, the matador other cruel ceremonies held across the or bull-fighter would take on the bull on foot in Fcountry in the name of tradition. Find the plaza de toros arena, making for an incred- out more about these abhorrent events, how to ible spectacle, ending in a ceremonial grand fi- be a responsible traveler and how to ensure your nale, wherein the matador plunges the sword friends and family don’t contribute to this dying between the bull’s shoulder blades, in a move industry. known as the estocada, killing the bull in front of the audience’s eyes. Dating back as far as the Roman times, bull- fighting has played a huge role in Spanish cul- Many regions in Spain, including Catalonia, have ture for generations. Bullfighting as we know it banned ‘bullfighting’ to the death as recently 24 A Brief History of Spain’s Cruelest Sport as 2011.
    [Show full text]
  • Jallikattu’ in Tamil Nadu, India
    Vol. 11(3),pp. 20-30, March 2019 DOI: 10.5897/JMCS2018.0644 Article Number: 75BE85960500 ISSN: 2141-2545 Copyright © 2019 Journal of Media and Communication Author(s) retain the copyright of this article http://www.academicjournlas.org/JMCS Studies Review The voices of culture, conservation and the media event around bullfight ‘Jallikattu’ in Tamil Nadu, India Jayashree B1*, Arul Aram1 and Yasmin Ibrahim2 1Department of Media Science, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Anna University, Chennai, India. 2International Business and Communication, Queen Mary, University of London, UK. Received 1 December, 2018; Accepted 11 February, 2019 In the Southern Indian ‘State of Tamil Nadu’, the traditional Jallikattu sport involving young men competing against bulls is described as one of the ancient living sports in the modern era. Based on petitions by animal rights groups, the Supreme Court of India banned the ancient sport of Jallikattu in 2014 on the grounds of animal cruelty. The ban of this traditional sport ignited protests culminating in a large-scale 15-day movement across the state from January 8 to 23, 2017 with a massive mobilization on the world’s second longest beach, the Marina in the state capital of Chennai. Largely propelled by the youths, the ban was perceived as an attack on Tamil culture and identity. The anger was directed at foreign animal rights activism and an unstable political situation gained momentum with media attention. This resulted in the promulgation of a central Act to overturn the ban and facilitate conduct of the sport. This paper examines the role of social media rallying the public and activism against the Jallikattu ban.
    [Show full text]
  • Insights Mind Maps
    Insights Mind maps Jallikattu protests 1) Introduction Jallikattu is referred as bull taming event typically practiced in Tamil Nadu as a part of Pongal celebrations on Mattu Pongal day It is renowned as an ancient 'sport', believed to have been practised some 2500 years ago. It is controversial because the sport often results in major injuries and even deaths. 2) Arguments in favour of Jallikattu Jallikattu is a key event of Mattu Pongal, essential to preserving the indigenous bull species A way of life in rural, pastoral Tamil Nadu, and is indeed a celebrated feature of Tamil identity cherished in Sangam literary It provides financial support to the rural poor whose livelihood depends on it. Its innumerable references could be found in Dravidian Literature and the indigenous population of Tamilnadu has held this event for years. 3) Arguments against Jallikattu Animal Welfare Board of India and the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) says bulls are subject to cruelty, are physically and mentally tortured for human pleasure The sport is directly in contravention of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960. It is being played in only some of the territories so not the representation of Tamilian culture as a whole. It has been distorted from its earlier Form where only one person per bull was involved but now a hoard of people chase a single bull. There are other possible ways to preserve the native breed. Tradition can't be an excuse for allowing inhuman practices to flourish. Causing pain to animals simply to entertain humans goes against the directive principles that call upon us to protect wildlife.
    [Show full text]
  • Reporter's Notebook
    2/25/2020 The Fight Against Bullfighting - The Atlantic Subscribe REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK Katharine Schwab 6:00 PM / October 15, 2015 The Fight Against Bullfighting A bullight this month in Seville, Spain (Marcelo del Pozo / Reuters) This week, Global Post took stock of the various campaigns to limit bullfighting in Spain. Madrid’s mayor recently nixed the city’s €61,000 annual subsidy to its prestigious bullfighting school, the Marcial Lalanda, which has been training matadors for nearly 40 years. The reason? Animal rights. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child may soon intervene in Spain to protect children from attending the traditional bloody sport. The committee has already intervened in Portugal, Mexico, and Colombia. https://www.theatlantic.com/notes/2015/10/bullfightings-ethical-dilemma/410830/ 1/7 2/25/2020 The Fight Against Bullfighting - The Atlantic Speaking of the latter country, Jim Glade recently wrote for us about the blood sport’s declining popularity among Colombians: ARTICLE CONTINUES AFTER ADVERTISEMENT The Colombian case is just one example of a worldwide decline. Spain’s Catalonia region banned bullfights in 2010; Panama did the same in 2012, as did the state of Sonora in Mexico in 2013. Ecuador hasn’t banned fights altogether, but the capital city of Quito no longer permits killing the bull as part of the event. France, too, has stopped short of banning bullfights, but in June a French court ruled that bullfighting should be taken off the country’s cultural-heritage list. How one reader responded to the piece: I am not a bullfighting fan, but I think that it would be more than fair that all people that condemn bullfighting and want to forbid it should first stop eating meat and wearing leather shoes, belts, purses, etc.
    [Show full text]
  • Vibeke Final Version
    The Changing Place of Animals in Post-Franco Spain with particular reference to Bullfighting, Popular Festivities, and Pet-keeping. Vibeke Hansen A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Sociology University of Essex October 2015 Abstract This is a thesis about the changing place of animals in post-Franco Spain, with particular reference to bullfighting, popular festivities, and pet-keeping. The thesis argues that since the ‘transition’ to democracy (1975-1982), which made Spain one of the most liberal social-democratic states in Europe, there have been several notable developments in human-animal relations. In some important respects, Spain has begun to shed its unenviable reputation for cruelty towards animals. Three important changes have occurred. First, bullfighting (corridas) has been banned in the Canary Islands (1991) and in Catalonia (2010). In addition, numerous municipalities have declared themselves against it. Second, although animals are still widely ‘abused’ and killed (often illegally) in local festivities, many have gradually ceased to use live animals, substituting either dead ones or effigies, and those that continue to use animals are subject to increasing legal restrictions. Third, one of the most conspicuous changes has been the growth in popularity of urban pet-keeping, together with the huge expansion of the market for foods, accessories and services - from healthy diets to cemeteries. The thesis shows that the character of these changing human-animal relations, and the resistance
    [Show full text]
  • Animal People News
    Pet food scare may bring trade reform to China B E I J I N G ––Furor over the deaths of cats and dogs who were poisoned by adulterated and mislabeled Chinese-made pet food ingredi- ents may have protected millions of people as well as animals worldwide. Chinese citizens themselves, and their pets, may be the most numerous beneficia- ries of new food safety regulations introduced by the Beijing government on May 9, 2007. With 1.5 billion citizens, China is the world’s most populous nation––and also has more than twice as many pets as any other Roadside rhesus macaques in India. (Kim Bartlett) nation. Officially, China had more than 150 million pet dogs as of mid-2005. China is also (Kendra Bond) believed to have from 300 to 450 million pet China to increase inspections and supervision. Dogs down, monkeys up in India cats, but the Chinese cat population has never Separately, China’s State Council, or cabinet, been formally surveyed. announced it had ordered more inspections of BANGALORE, HYDERA- of macaques or herd of pigs, but several The first announced Chinese regulato- all plant and aquaculture products, and B A D ––Faster up a tree or the side of a dogs usually prevail. ry changes covered only exports, but within increased control of pesticides, chemical fertil- building than a feral cat, biting more pow- Now the Indian street ecology is hours the rules governing items sold on the izers, drugs, and animal feed. It also called for erfully and often than any street dog, able abruptly changing.
    [Show full text]